Rather than in between the ports of entry as illegal immigrants. So the effort was ramped up a number of years ago as the border began to, you know, as control on the border began to crumble. So what you see is a lot of cooperation with Border Patrol, and with immigrations and customs enforcement, its essentially augmenting Border Security in texas. Lastly, id say its been working because what youre seeing now is youre seeing, especially as Governor Abbott ramped up enforcement. Youre seeing the traffic that is controlled by the mexican drug and Human Trafficking cartels shift pretty significantly to the west, states like california, especially, where t has a very t attitude toward illegal immigration. Host would you say, or would it be fair to say that operation lo s to criticism of President Bidens handling of immigration matters . Guest i would say it was a direct response, not necessarily to criticisms but the reality on the ground. You may recall a couple of years ago, i was at this Border Crossing in del rio, there were some 20,000 haitian nationals huddling under a bridge for celter from the hot sun. Individuals that came across with the expectation that if they were able to make it into america illegally, that there was very little chance that they would ever be deported. Host the Supreme Court rolled back portions of it, if i understand it. What portions did they do . Guest are you speaking about texas efforts to control the border . Host yes, sir. Guest theres a number of things, a number of legal fronts right now where texas has been contending with the federal government. One in particular, youre probably referring to the ability of Border Patrol to cut wire, to cut barrier wire, that have been laid by the National Guard as part of operation lone star on the border. Now court ruled was that the Border Patrol could in fact cut the wire. They did not rule that texas could not put down more wire. Ie that ruling has been made, i think its been about a month, im not aware of any reports where Border Patrol hasy removed the wire even though theyre allowed to do it. Theres another lawsuit regarding the buoy system thats been put iohe rio grande river. Interestingly enough in that case, the Biden Administration did not assert their right to supremacy with regard to immigration and the border. What instead they did is they made a claim under environmental law and under the rivers act that this was an illegal impediment to commercial traffic which of course is ridiculs hasy commercial traffic on that stretch of the river going back some 100 years. So i believe as i recall texas has had to kind of pull the buoys back in. But thats still in litigation. And then finally, senate bill 4, this was the bill that authorizes texas Law Enforcement, if they have reasonable suspicion, if they have probable cause tove someone has come across the border illegally, to arrest that individual and bring them to a port of entry choice. You can either go back to where you came from or you can be arrested for being in texas illegally. Now that is still being litigated, we expect it to end up going up to the Supreme Court and we believe that it is substantially than arizona v. U. S. Which was decided in 2012. We believe that texas has a pretty good chance to prevail in that case. Host it was in the lower court about s. B. 4, the judge said this if allowed to proceed s. B. 4 could leadsm to each stae passing its own version of Immigration Laws. This wouldove the uniform regulation of immigration throughout the country and force the federal government navigate a patchwork of legislation. What do you think of that thinks wrongly decided and i think were going to see it quickly reversed at the fifth Circuit Court of appeals. The reason being is that texas is not enforcing Immigration Law. What theyre doing is simply going back to longstanding powers that the states had prior to the 2012 ruling in arizona v. U. S. Stks not at all enforcing immigration. What theyre doing is when you see someone crossing the board for the between a port of entry, which by itself is an illegal act, its a criminal act, what texas is doing is then empowering its Law Enforcement to secure that individual, to bring them to an official port of entry, and to give that individual a choice. They can walk back across the border from which they came or they can be arrested and tried in the texas criminal system for a crime. And so, in neither case do you have texas enforcing Immigration Law at the individual walks back across the border thats not a deportation. Thats individual deciding that they would rather not be arrested and spendime at tcts jail. Host if you want to ask questions of our guest, you can do so on the line 2027488000 for democrats. 2027488001 for republicans, 2027488002 for independents. If youre a texas resident and you want to give your opinion on whats going on not only in your state but in washington when it comes to immigrationr security issues, call 2027488003. Our conversation is with chuck devore of the texas Public Policy foundation. During the state of the union last week, issues of immigration and Border Security came up. I want to play latele bit of what the president your respons. [video clip] pres. Biden instead of playing politics, pressuring members of congress to block the bill, join me. We can work together. But thats what he apparently will not do. I will not demonize immigrants saying they are poisoning the blood of our country. I will not separate families. I will not ban people because of their faith. Unlike my predecessor, on my first day in office i introduced a comprehensive bill immigration system. It has all these and more. Secure the border. Provide a pathway to citizenship for dreamers. And so much morial but unlike my predecessor and so much more. But unlike my predecessor i know who we are as americans. Were the only nation in the world with a heart and soul that draws from old and new. Host thats President Biden from state of the union, drawing contrast with trump. Mr. Devore, your thoughts . Guest i did listen to the state of the union. I was disappointed with it. Immigration, the lack of security on our border, is the number one issue among the american people. And of course that makes sense. We have had some 200 people on the terror watch list come across. There was evidence presented just yesterday before a Senate Committee that some of the criminal drug and Human Trafficking cartels are working with elements of isis to get some individuals across our border. That is pretty significant news given that less than